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Of course there's only so much one can get into about Jean Reno and the almost cult-like status he's created within his films, that this article will never do justice.

A renowned actor, very famous for his professionalism and the seriousness with which he takes on his roles, it's almost comical that he ended up in the 1998 Godzilla movie
.

I imagine he did it because a) it paid a lot of money, probably far more than he had ever made before, and b) it was probably a lot of fun to be able to just kick back and relax when it comes to his acting.

Since he had previously taken things so seriously, this film would have been the equivalent of "letting his hair down" and just enjoy the ride as it went down.

(Much like his famous "The Professional" costar Natalie Portman did with her Star Wars movies. No guilt trip, no worries about what kind of acting was being done).

Of course even with his acting level turned down he still gave quite a performance throughout the film, and gave some of the best one-liners around.

Jean was actually contracted to appear in two more Godzilla movies, and at least when it came to the sequel's spec script his character was still involved in a major way. (All of which is described here).

But alas that particular franchise was discontinued and with it his "Philippe Roache" character.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Pictured here is the Sand Dune lizard of Texas, and it is apparently causing so much economical damage locals are calling it "Godzilla
".

You see Oil and Petroleum officials are looking to cultivate an area within Texas rich in oil for production.

Such a move could help create thousands and thousands of new jobs, which will increase the area's productivity, bring in more business, create other new jobs (restaurants, hotels, banking, insurance), and so on.

The only problem is that this Sand Dune lizard is on the cusp of being called an endangered species.

Should that happen then all 800,000 acres of the lizard's habitat (including the area filled with oil) will be declared off-limits.

No drilling, no productivity, no jobs.

This is why Texas Land Commissioner called it "Godzilla", because it seems to be just as destructive as the King of Monsters himself.

I was finally able to get my hands on issues #2 and #3 of this Godzilla: Gangsters and Goliaths
series (#3 which I will review in the near future) and thus far everything is turning out perfect.

Writer Jon Layman continues to develop a fascinating story with Detective Sato, nicely mixing in Sato's quest for vengeance with 300 foot tall monsters no less.

In this issue Detective Sato returns home and starts his master plan to exact revenge on the mafioso King who ruined everything for him, utilizing Mothra as a key plot towards this.

Part of this plot is coercing the two little twins to agree with his work, something that they're not so willing to do at the beginning.

If there's one thing that I can criticize with this series, it's that Godzilla is nowhere to be seen.

For a series proudly stating his name on the front cover, Godzilla has really only been on one page thus far. Mothra is the lead monster here, although I highly suspect that's to change soon.

The artwork by Alberto Ponticelli continues to shine, incorporating the right amount of realism to convey the grittiness of the story involved.

I mean look at that Mothra spread!

That is absolutely beautiful!

Amazing how well Alberto captures the scope and size of these monsters within just one panel.

I give this issue 4/5 stars (again citing the lack of Godzilla), but still highly recommend everyone to buy this issue and go forward with this series, as it is turning out to be something truly great.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Powell starts this issue by making things further confusing, introducing yet another new character in the form of a recently relieved US soldier.

So just to clarify we've got storylines involving multiple monsters, storylines involving multiple government officials, storylines involving multiple side characters, and now a new character who looks to become a major player.

And oh yeah...somewhere within all of this is Godzilla.

I thought the series was called "Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters
" not "Godzilla: Syriana". (You'll have to have seen Syriana in order to understand that joke).

To his credit Powell finally makes this US soldier something this series truly needs; somebody who is taking things seriously.

In other words he's not a kooky caricature of some nervous scientist, or goofy rednecks, or some clueless citizens fleeing everywhere like chickens with their heads cut off.

This actually looks like somebody we can finally root for, and I look forward to seeing how this pans out.

I also like what's going on with the twin girls and Battra.

Powell is giving us very brief glimpses of what they're up to...but at the same time revealing nothing.

They're heading somewhere and wrecking havoc along the way, and each time they do that one is hoping that they will get their due punishment.

Let's hope that the payoff goes off with a bang.

Also Powell actually made me chuckle with his introduction of the "Jerseyfied" crew, i.e. a blatant rip on the "Jersey Shore".

It was hilarious to see what happens to them when Godzilla FINALLY shows up (SPOILER, they get toastified), and I can only hope that his other satirical character based on Lady Gaga gets her due reward too.

(There's a reason why Powell has Godzilla burning Hollywood on the front cover; he is certainly not holding back when it comes what he thinks about all of this pop star fluff).

The art by Phil Hester...well it is what it is. Simple yet elegant at the same time. It's starting to grow on me more and more.

I give this issue 3/5 stars, if only because of the introduction of the US soldier whom looks to be the most interesting character of all.

Continuing the theme from the other day involving Jan De Bont's defunct "Godzilla" movie, here's the actual teaser trailer that was created for it.

It was made so early in pre-production, not even a shred of images could be utilized other than some stock Godzilla background.

While I haven't been able to confirm, I believe it was actually shown in theaters too.

Kooky huh?

What a strange trailer. In no way does it inpire me to see and anticipate the movie. It just seems very bland and corny at the same time.

In fact there's an even longer teaser out there (unfortunately I couldn't find it) that adds further scrolling words such as "from the makers of Disney's Aladdin".

Huh? How is this anything to brag about, particularly within a Godzilla movie?

What is interesting is that actual footage was shot (by De Bont and his crew) of a village being destroyed by some large mysterious force, and this footage was going to make up another teaser of sorts.

This was the closest film footage that was shot for De Bont's "Godzilla" film before everything was shut down.

Unfortunately such footage has never been released, although I would have loved to have seen it.

Just when you thought you've seen everything related to Godzilla, one more weird item pops up.

There's a popular destination within San Mateo, CA called "Arata Farm" that is apparently utilizing Godzilla in a manner that almost shut down its operations.

As you can see from the photo above the "Farm" is not actually a true farm. Rather it consists of many family-filled attractions for tourists and nearby residents.

Such activities include the obviously large hay maze, sword fights, a petting zoo, small train raids, tours...and oh yeah, a Godzilla statue standing guard at the front of the entrance.

(In the picture he's there, but you can barely make him out on the bottom right hand corner).

This statue was what apparently almost shut the farm down, as county officials were uneasy with how this farmer was calling everything an "agri-tainment".

(As one county official had asked, "Why the Godzilla?")

Apparently they felt that the land should be used for actual farming due to its rich soil, and that permits were needed for all of this. (There's probably government grants involved mandating actual farm use too).

In any case the farmer (Chris Gounalakis) was able to convince them how Godzilla suited the farm's theme, so it and the "agri-tainment" activities have been granted operations at least until the end of this year.